Tag Archives: Service

Why Behave?

Posted on by

0

Why do we try to be faithful?

I mean, why do we try to live a life glorifying God?

There may be a lot of reasons.   Maybe we are afraid of God and afraid of judgement.  Maybe we are afraid of what our sins will do and afraid of what God will do to us because of our sin.

Maybe we just feel like we “have” to.  Just a child has to do what their parents say, maybe try to behave because we have to it. It’s just our duty. It’s just what we are supposed to do.

May we do it because someone is making us. Our parents.  Our spouse.   Some outward pressure.  Maybe that’s why.

There’s a problem with each of these motivations.  In these, we are not being faithful because we want to. We would be doing it because we have to. Anything that we “have” to do, we will eventually get tired of it. We eventually give up. We will find that we can’t make ourselves do it.

Listen to what the Psalmist said today, talking about this in Psalm 86:

Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.
With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death.

He honors God, because God has rescued Him.

Why behave?  Why do right? Why be faithful?  Why try to do what God wants us to do?  Why try to love and serve and care?

That is the response of a thankful heart. God has loved you. He has given you His son. He has showered you with love that will never end and never stop.

Why behave?

He loves you, that’s why.   And the only response we have to a love so great is to love others. And love Him.

Today, out of a thankful heart, may we be faithful. As we have been shown so great love, may we show that same love to others.

Do Something

Posted on by

0

I tell folks that I’m not particularly useful in life. I’m a preacher!  There’s not much I can do in life that’s actually helpful! 🙂

I say that jokingly, but as someone who really does spend a lot of time preaching and counseling and preparing our church for what God has called us to do and to be, one of the things that I really enjoy, when I get the chance, is the opportunity to do mission work. It’s a neat thing to be able to “do” something like fix, or rebuild, or work in some fashion.

I remember once taking a group of youth to build a habitat house in Lauderdale County, MS, and it was a great joy to be able to “do” something, but just as importantly, see these kids learn to “do” something as well. To be the hands and feet of Jesus in this day.

Today, God is going to give you the chance to “do” something for Him.  It may be something in your eyes that is “big,” it may be something in your eyes that is “small.” But, both of these, the big and the small, they are something that you can do for His glory.

Listen to the words of one of my favorite passages, Colossians 3:17:

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Everything you do today, you do it for God. Everything. From the biggest task, to the smallest errand. Everything you do today, you do it to glorify Him and to be an ambassador for Him.

You can influence many with your words, your actions, your heart, your smile, your attitude, your very being.

Everything you do today, everything, is done for God.

Today, you have the chance to “do’ something for God.

Don’t miss that chance. Don’t miss that moment. God has given it to you. Today, may we do what God is calling us to do.

And may we do it for His glory and for His purpose.

Different

Posted on by

0

One of the things that I know Jesus calls us to is to be different.  We, as Christians, are just supposed to be different.

Different from our culture.  Have a different set of views, a different set of eyes, a different purpose.

As I said in my sermon Sunday, as Christians we are to live a life that makes those all around us say – hey, I want that!  I want what they have!

Now, that life is not perfection. That life is just, well, different.

Ok, what does that different look like?  Here’s what Jesus said today in Matthew 20

But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus says it must be different among us. As Christians, whoever wants to lead, must serve.  To really show what a great Christian you are, we don’t pound our chest, we don’t see who can quote the most verses, we don’t try to “out holy” each other.

We do what our Savior did.  We serve.

We care.

We forgive – others and ourselves.

We love.

We help.

We are called to be different. We are called to be a little weird. In the world, it’s about power and fame and wealth.  In the faith, it’s about Jesus. It’s about service.  It’s about love.  It’s about humility.

It’s not about seeking our way. It’s about seeking His way.

That way of loving God and loving our neighbor.

Today, are we different? Are we living different from our culture? Are we living in a way where those around us say, hey, I want what they’ve got?

Today, as Christians, may we be different. And, in doing that, may we bring glory to our awesome God.

BaseCamp 2011 Day Four

Posted on by

0

Today is the last day of BaseCamp 2011. It’s been a great week of service to the greater Pine Belt area.

We’ve seen yards get cut, bathrooms get fixed, children get loved on, and food given out. It’s been a real great week of being the hands and feet of Jesus. These youth have given of their time, their efforts and of all that they are to really make a difference in the lives of others.

And these last two years I’ve had the privilege of working with BaseCamp, that’s always my take away. You can make a difference. You really can.

That may be one of the most dangerous things that the world can do to us. It can make us believe that we can’t make a difference. That there is nothing that we can do. That it is hopeless. That there is no point in trying to change the world.

That there is no point in trying to change yourself.

I believe in the power of change. I believe in the power of God to change lives. To change the lives of the ones that we serve, and to change our on lives as well.

You can make a difference today. Each smile. Each warm word. Each offer to help someone. Each time you don’t respond in anger. Every little thing you do, you can make a difference.

And, today, God can make a difference in you. You can grow closer. You can be more like Him. You can feel His power and His life in you today. You can be changed.

Today, let’s go make a difference. Each of us, let’s go be the hands and feet of Jesus.

BaseCamp 2011 Day Three

Posted on by

0

Being at a camp like BaseCamp is kind of like being in the hospital. Or, I guess prison. What I mean by that this is.  You eventually aren’t sure what day it is, and what exactly you have to do today, and what exactly did you do yesterday.

So, today is Day Three of BaseCamp 2011.

I was struck last night at I sat in the back of the building during worship that we as the church undervalue our youth.  We have 150+ young people here this year. They are working. Hard.  I mean, really working.  I’ve not seen a lot of loafing around this week.

And they paid to do this. For some, this is their “youth trip.”  How many of us would pay to come to Hattiesburg during June and work and sweat for people that we don’t even know.  And did I mention that it is June in Mississippi?

And they are doing it, to show God’s love to folks.

So today, as an adult reading this (or a youth not here) this is my challenge to you. Show God’s love to someone in your life.

Get out of comfort zone.

Do something you wouldn’t normally do.

Be His hands and feet.

You can do it. He has lov

BaseCamp 2011 Day One

Posted on by

0

Morning Everyone. Posting will be spotty this week. Asbury is putting on our yearly BaseCamp, where over 100 youth from Asbury and other churches come together to do mission work and service all over the Pine Belt.  There is worship and fellowship, and it is really a great time to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

So, pray for us this week. I’ll try to update each morning as I make coffee for the leaders’ meeting we have every day.

Today, I want to leave you with a quote I reference in my sermon yesterday by Teresa of Avila

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

May we each be the hands and feet of Jesus today, with all the we do. Pray for these youth as they seek to do that today.

 

 

 

Humility

Posted on by

0

Humility can be a dirty word.

Or if not a dirty word, it can be a word that we don’t like or aren’t really fond of.  When we think of humility, we aren’t really sure what it means to be humble.  The one thing we may think about humility is this.

We are supposed to think that we don’t matter. We are supposed to think that we are unimportant. We are supposed to think that we have no great value.

That is not right. That is not humility.

You do matter.  You are important.  You are of great worth.

Humility is not beating up on yourself.  Humility is not putting down on yourself.  Humility is not about debasing yourself of thinking yourself worthless.

I had a professor in seminary that used to put it this way – “Humility is self-forgetfulness.”  It’s not about beating yourself up. It’s about forgetting about yourself and thinking of others first.

Listen to what Paul writes in Philippians today:

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Paul says, think about others first. Think of their needs. Their of their feelings. Think of them before we think of ourselves.

We forget about ourselves and focus on them.  How we can help others.  Love others. Serve others.

Why?

Why should we do that? Why are we called to do that.

Well, as Christians, we are called to seek to be like Christ.  To know Him. To love Him. And to love others as He did.  And listen as Paul continues, to what Jesus did:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Jesus was humble.  Jesus came not for Himself, but for us. And as Christians, He calls us not to live just for ourselves, but to live for others.

Because in a life of humility, a life of service, a life of giving ourselves away for His sake, we find more life that we’ll ever find in living for ourselves.

Yes, we are called to be humble.  No humility is not what we’ve always thought that is was.  Humility is about forgetting about ourselves and focusing on others.

Today, and each day, may we be humble.

Risk Taking Mission and Service Podcast

Posted on by

0

The sermon podcast for January 30, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. It is entitled “Risk Taking Mission and Service” and it’s the fourth in our series “The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.   The text is Luke 10: 1-18.   You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

 

Your Part to Play

Posted on by

0

We are not all the same. Thank goodness.  I like the fact that we are each different, that we each have different likes, dislikes, abilities, and gifts. That’s a good thing.  None of us are exactly the same.

Today in Acts, we see the Apostles teach the people that each person has a different gift and calling. These gifts aren’t better than each other. They are just different.  All gifts are needed. We each have a part to play in the body.  We see in Acts 6:

2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4 while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5 What they said pleased the whole community,

And God needs all of us to do our thing. God needs each of us to do what He has called us to do and be who He has called us to be.

Not everyone is supposed to be me.  Not everyone is supposed to be you.

We are each supposed to be who God has called us to be.

Just because you don’t have the same gift or passion as I do, that doesn’t make you bad.  It doesn’t make me bad. It makes us different and it means that God wants to each use each of us for His kingdom.

He needs each of us do what we are called to do, what we are passionate about.

And in doing that, we will build the kingdom of God here among us.

Today, don’t try to me, or your mama, or your preacher, or your teacher, or you neighbor.

Be you. Be the person God has called YOU to be.

He needs you to be that person.   Your church needs you to be that person. the kingdom needs you to be that person.

We each have a part to play.  Each of us.  None of us are unimportant. We are each valuable to God.

Be who you are called this day.  And don’t worry about being anybody else.